Samsung Replaces Head of Mobile Design Amid Lagging Sales

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When your latest smartphone has lukewarm sales and is criticized for its dullness -- apparently it's time to push out your head of mobile design. At least that's what Samsung has done after lackluster Galaxy S5 sales, according to reports.

Chang Dong-hoon offered to resign last week and will be replaced by Lee Min-hyouk, vice president for mobile design, Reuters reported.

"The realignment will enable Chang to focus more on his role as head of the Design Strategy Team, the company's corporate design center which is responsible for long-term design strategy across all of Samsung's businesses, including Mobile Communications," Samsung said in a statement.

Lee, 42, helped design the Galaxy series, the products that made Samsung a global competitor with Apple's iPhone. Now because of the Galaxy series, the company sells more than twice the number of iPhones.

However, the Galaxy S5 debuted last month and hasn't really caught on with consumers. There's no real innovations and its plastic case has been dubbed "cheap," Reuters reported.

Chang, who offered to resign, will be still be kept on at the South Korean company heading its overall design.

Samsung, which has had numerous lawsuits filed against it for allegedly copying Apple technology, is likely suffering the same fate as Apple. Apple's latest iPhones, especially the iPhone 5C, hasn't been universally embraced by consumers either. Could it be that new technological innovations for smartphones will be few and far between? We think it means something when both leading smartphone manufacturers put out a merely adequate product -- that it's time for some meaningful innovation.